The Forgotten Apprentice
by The Solo Song Warrior
Summary: Eli and the Shane Gang have a new member, but this one is diffrent than the others. She says she was the apprentice of Eli's dad, but can they trust her? Trying to find out, Eil has more questions that she can help him answer: What kind of rare slug she has, about his dad, about Blakk. But one question is bigger: Can he reveal his true feelings to her? T for blood and major fluff!
1. Meetings

Eli woke up in his normal bedroom in his father's old Hideout at six in the morning. That was his normal waking hour since he moved into Slugterra. Kord said that it would give him time to warm up and wake up his slugs before another day of stopping Dr. Black's or anyone else's evil plans. He didn't mind though, and neither did his slugs.

Eli got out of what was once his dad's old bed and walked towards the dresser. He put on his normal clothes, fixed his hair, woke his slugs, and went downstairs. Before he had came to Sluggterra, Eli had never been much of a morning person. But now, waking up early meant both peace and quiet from the crazy day he was about to start and sling slugs sooner. As he and his slugs ate breakfast, Eli read the Sluggterra newspaper.

Instead of a thick pack of paper like on the surface, it was just one pad that you could scroll down on, like a tablet. But today it wasn't holding anything interesting, except for a certain spot. Eli read the article that was labeled, "MYSTEROUS SLINNGER ATTACKS WANDERES." The article had several paragraphs to it, talking about a small group of slugslingers that got attacked for no reason while they were slug-hunting by one, unidentified, slinger.

They had even put a quote of the leader of the group. "We were just passing by, following the trail of this Dirt Urchin, when outta nowhere this one slinger pops up and starts sic'ing their slugs on us." Eli also read that since the Mystery Slinger was too fast, they couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl. But they were positive it was a human. Eli read the article one more time as Burpy hopped on his shoulder. "What do you think about this, Burpy?" The slug chirped a reply.

An hour latter, Eli was outside and practicing with the others. "Hey, did you guys hear about that Mystery Slinger?" he asked to no one in particular as he fired at a target. "Yeah, it's all over the news," Trixie said. "But this isn't the first time the MS struck Slugterra," Kord said as he tinkered with the Mecha Beast. "Really?" "Yeah. Crazy slinger has been doin' it for pretty much five or six years now." "But a while, no, almost immediately after news spread that another Shane had arrived, he or she stopped doing stuff," Trixie added.

"Well, what exactly does this guy do?" The others were silent for a few seconds before responding. "Nobody knows," Trixie finally answered, "MS is too fast so we cant see them clearly." Eli nodded and continued to train, a small smile on his face that Pronto seemed to noticed. "Oh, no! That is the look you get on your face before you make us do something totally crazy!" "Oh, come on. You guys aren't even slightly curious about what that person's doing? They could be working for Blakk."

The others look at each other before finally giving in. "Mystery Slinger was last see about a few miles northeast," Pronto said as the got on their Mecha's. Eli nodded and they were off.

* * *

When they arrived and got off their Mecha's, Eli couldn't see what made this place so special that some mysterious slinger attacked innocent people. They walked with caution till they reached where the recent attack happened. It was a fresh battlefield. It had the marks of several different slugs that Eli could easily identify them from. _A Dirt Urchin spikes, Arachnet webs, Flaringo burns... Wait, what's this?_ Eli walked towards the biggest mark and crouched by it..

It had ripped up vines growing out of a burned ground, a few shards of ice that looked like they once contained something, a few tiny puddles of water, tiny electric burns, and gagged rocks were in one, giant circle. It was the remains of a slug attack Eli had never seen. "Hey guys, have you ever seen this?" Trixie was already there with her camera, filming it. "Nope," she replied. "Call me when you see the Mystery Slinger so I can film it." Eli rolled his eyes as she walked away.

Suddenly, Eli heard something. He looked up from the remains and saw a path in front of him, were something was hiding. While the others occupied themselves with the remains, Eli walked down the path, blaster in he walked, he looked around, listening closely whenever he heard rustling. Then he heard a twig snap. "Whoever's there, come out now. I don't want to fight," he said to the open. _Look behind you,_ the quiet seemed to say to him. Cautious yet skeptical, Eli obeyed and jumped at what he saw.

There was a person- defiantly human -standing on the higher ground, one hand on a tree. By the slenderness of the body, Eli could tell it was a girl. She wore a thin jacket with dark purple outlining it while the main color was a kind of blue you'd see on an emo's black hair and it had a few stripes on it that were sterling silver. The sleeves went just past her elbows. The jacket was zipped down to the center of her chest, revealing a black shirt of some kind. She wore regular dark blue pants that hugged her legs with black boots and kneepads.

What brought his attention to her outfit was the symbol on the left side of her jacket. It was the Shane symbol. _How did she get one of those?_

But her face was covered by a helmet with a black screen, painted to match her jacket. Eli straightened up and looked at the girl as she tilted her head. "Hi," he said, giving a small wave to her. No response. "So, you're the Mystery Slinger?" Still no response. "Well, I just wanted to ask you a question." Still no response, and it was getting annoying. "Um, hello? Do you even understand me?" She was silent for a minuet before she let the hand on the tree fall to her side. "I understand you very clearly."

Eli gasped at her voice, which was slightly muffled from the helmet. It sounded smooth, and it almost sounded like she wasn't even there. But Eli thought it was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever heard. She jumped down from the higher ground, now only a few yards away from him. "You must be crazy to think I'm gonna let you talk to me," she said as she slowly walked towards him. Her walk was more of long, graceful strides, like she was floating

Eli reached for his blaster, just in case, as the girl grabbed her own. It was like his but purple with a few stripes on it that were silver and blue. She didn't aim or fill it, just twirled it in her hand. "You must not know about me that much. I don't convers long with anyone." A slug jumped onto her shoulder, a Flaringo. "Now you better go, before I ask Flare here to do some burning." Eli stood there for a moment before responding with loading Jewels to his blaster. "Sorry, but I came here for a reason."

The girl was probably smirking under her helmet as she fired first, Eli in the next instant. He was barely able to dodge the blow, but MS seemed to have no trouble. She jumped high and grabbed a vine, swinging herself over Eli's head. Doing so, she fired a Dirt Urchin at him, meanwhile he slung Burpy at her. She moved too quickly and out of sight.

 _Where'd she go?_ Eli looked around cautiously, his blaster already holding his Fright Geyst. He heard a giggle, looked behind him, and there she was, about to fire. "You should've left when you had the chance," was all she said, and she pulled the trigger. A slug he had never seen or heard of before. When it transformed, it was silver with an aura that changed colors. "Manna, girl," MS said to the slug, "show him what happens to people who trespass."

The slug was headed straight for Eli. He couldn't move, he was both terrified and mesmerized by the slug. "Eli!" Kord yelling his name was what snapped him out of it just in time to dodge the blow. The name seemed to startle MS too, because she called her slug. "Manna, stop!" The slug, Manna, stopped obediently. After turning back, it went back to her slinger while the gang helped Eli up. "Eli?" MS walked towards them, stopping fifteen feet away. "As in Eli Shane? Son of Will?" Eli nodded.

The girl was still for an instant, then a slight chuckle came from under her helmet. "Should've known. You look and act so alike. He always did say you did crazy things on the surface." Eli and the others looked at the girl, puzzled. "What? Did you know my dad?" "Knew him? He took me in, paid for me to go to school on the surface, and trained me to be the slinger I am today." The girl lifted her hands to her helmet and pulled it off. As they all gasped, Trixie pulled out her camera.

The girls skin was only a little lighter than Eli's, her eyes being a deep night blue. Her hair was in a single long braid, the tail going past her hips, and her bangs pasted her eyebrows. The top half was purple while the bottom half was as blue as Eli's, tiny strips of silver and orange here and there. "My name is Marnie Easton. I protect this part of Slugterra. With Blakk poisoning the slugs and turning them into what people say you call 'Ghouls', someone's gotta try and save a few."

Eli was slowly piecing things together. "So is that why you attacked those innocent people? To protect the slugs?" Marnie scoffed. "'Innocent' people? They were working for Blakk. Put up a good fight ,though. For a couple of goons." Eli had a bunch of questions, but he had an idea. "This is so cool. My dad had an apprentice? He never mentioned this." She just shrugged "We decided the less people knew the better." "Good point. Anyway, now you can join me and the gang." The smirk on Marnie's face disappeared.

That's when Eli noticed something, she was looking at his face, but not his eyes. He decided that he was seeing things and returned to reality. "Why not?" Marnie looked down at the ground, Manna on her shoulder. "I... I just can't be around a Shane right now." Before Eli could ask what she meant, nine of Blakk's men appeared. Marnie snapped her head up towards them and drew her blaster. "You guys again?! I thought I gave you a message to give to your boss: You're not getting any of these slugs!"

She fired a Tormato at them while Eli and the others fired their own slugs. Then, they somehow came into fighting hand-to-hand. Eli tried to dodge each blow, but he kept on getting hit, causing bruises and cuts to form. Slugs also were fired around them, causing more and more injuries and, being The Shane, Eli got most of the hits. Marnie seemed to have no problem. It was like she was one with the environment around her.

Eli noticed how she kept on disappearing and reappearing, surprising the enemies and throwing hard kicks and punches at them. Eli fought as hard as he could, but he almost passed out from pain. When they left him alone for a moment, he looked down at himself. His clothes were torn with blood staining them and oozing out or the rips. He looked at a piece of ice nearby and saw that his face had a few cuts and bruises, and there was one starting to bleed badly.

As soon as he finished examining himself, he returned to the fight. He had lost track at where Trixie, Kord, and Pronto were, but Marnie was only two yards away, three of the men lying still around her and dealing with two more. When they were sure all the men were taken care of, The looked at eachother. Marnie looked like she had barely been touched, but her right forearm had a bruise and a red mark on it and her left leg nearly dragged behind her a little as she walked to him.

"You're swaying. You're gonna faint any minuet now," she said to him. "...No kidding," was all he could say. He felt wind rush as he fell to his side, black dots spotting his vision. The last thing he saw was Marnie bending down in front of his head. Then darkness.


	2. Recruting

Eli slowly opened his eyes, blinking to try and make his vision less fuzzy. He saw a light and a ceiling fan slowly rotating above him. And somewhere out of his eye sight, a sink was running. He was about to start getting up when a face with long purple bangs over it was looking down to his. "Well, well, you're alive. No surprise. You Shane's seem to be able to take all kinds of hits." Marnie smirked a little at Eli before wiping a damp towel over his face. When she was done, Eli tried to sit up.

"I wouldn't try to move on your own if I were you. You took some serious hits that messed up your insides and damaged your limbs a little. But nothing serious or that I can't deal with. Here, let me help you." Even if someone was doing the work for him, Eli felt pain surge through his body as Marnie braced him against a wall he couldn't see. When she was done, she put the rag in a bowl of water then got up and walked off after he grunted in thanks, leaving him to look at himself.

He saw that she had gotten rid of his jacket and shirt and his entire torso was now wrapped in bloody bandages, a few of them wrapped across his chest and over his left shoulder to keep them still. His left forearm had one big band aid on it, covering a bruise, and his right upper arm was wrapped a few times by some bandages, only one patch of blood on it. He saw that his pants were still on, but a few pieces must've needed to be cut off to be properly treat and bandage the wounds. He was lying on a cot.

He heard Marnie come back but he was hurt too much to speak or turn his head all the way. He only tilted his head enough to see her sit at a stool next to him and place a tray with four cups on it. Marnie lifted one cup and showed it to him. "Here, drink this. It'll help your insides and throat heal faster," she explained. Eli looked into the cup and saw a green liquid in it. He was hesitant, but he seemed to have no choice as Marnie lifted the cup to his lips to help him drink it.

It was thick, and when it touched his tongue, a bittersweet taste covered it. He sipped carefully at first but then gulped the rest down as he realized that it did seem to help his throat and insides. When it was empty he licked his lips and tried to speak. "Thank...you," was all he could say at the moment. "No problem. It takes a few for it to kick in, so just wait." He did as he was told as she picked up the rag out of the bowl again as she wiped his face again, the cold water soothing his aching head. He tilted his head to look into the water and saw that under his bangs, his head was wrapped with bloody bandages.

Marnie seemed to notice his gaze and tried to assure him. "Don't worry. You don't have a concussion, your skull's not cracked, and your brain isn't bleeding. So I suggest you relax."

After a few Eli tried to speak again. "How... did you make... that drink?" Marnie looked up from the rag she was dipping into the bowl again then looked back at it, answering as she twisted it. "It's a herbal tea healing remedy recipe I found and tweaked when I was seven. It contains a few herbs you can find here in Slugterra and a few from the surface." Eli nodded, trying to remember every healing herb he's heard of.

A minuet later, Marnie lifted another cup to his mouth, this time a white liquid with blue dots. "This one will help your bones and muscles heal faster. It'll also lessen the bleeding a bit." Eli nodded again as the liquid slipped through his lips. This time it wasn't as thick but it was hard not to gag at the sour drink. When it was gone Eli started to feel a bit of pain go away. "Now wait a few more minuets," Marnie said, grabbing the rag again, this time squeezing water over him, cooling his body.

After the effects of both remedies seemed to kick in, Eli tried to sit up again, and Marnie made no motion to stop him again. He used his arms to brace himself and swung his legs over the edge of the cot. He looked over to Marnie, but just like when he saw her after their brief battle, she focused on some other feature of his face, not his eyes. Eli smiled as she picked up the last two cups on the tray, handing him one. He was glad that this one he could lift on his own.

When he looked into he cup he saw that it was lemonade, and he happily sipped it. He looked around the room and saw it was some kind of infirmary. There were a few cabinets both off and on ground, a counter with a sink attached, and there was a blender that Marnie probably used to make the remedies. "Where are we?" Eli asked. Marnie took her own lemonade from her lips and answered. "This is a room in one of your dad's old hideouts. I kinda made it my home after he left, but I still went to surface school."

Eli nodded as he finished the rest of his lemonade and stood, Marnie following quickly to make sure he didn't fall. She led him out the door while grabbing his arm to keep him upright, causing him to notice just how small she was compared to him. She wasn't taller than Trixie, that's for sure, confirmed when she she barely reached his chin. When he stepped out of the infirmary, he entered a living room similar to his, but instead in Marnie's colors. She led him to the couch and left him there for a nearby kitchenette.

His slugs were in the room, and immediately went to him. He chuckled at their playfulness as Marnie came back with some food including nachos, chicken, mashed potato's, and peas. "A lot of surface food here," he commented, picking up a chicken leg and inspecting it. "You need the nourishment," was all she said as she dug into a plate she got for herself. "Eat." Eli obeyed and dug in.

Half an hour later he was putting new clothes on in a room that Marnie said use to be his dad's. It surely looked like it. Everything was neatly put in a place and aside from the dust and rust, it was clean. Eli wondered how his dad made time to keep all his hideouts clean and still watch over Slugterra. _Maybe Marnie knows_ , he decided as he left. Before he did, he saw a picture of his dad with a little girl. She had blonde hair with brown meshed into it along with dark blue eyes. She was smiling. _Marnie..._

Eli picked up the picture. His father had young Marnie besides him, both standing sideways and holding blasters, Marnie's back facing Will, who was in the same position. Eli chuckled as he put the picture down and left the room. He walked till he reached what he believed was the front door. When he walked through it he had entered a patio with a view from what looks like a giant tree. He looked around at the amazing view for what feels like hours till a voice broke the silence. "Pretty view, huh?" Marnie said.

Eli jumped at the sound of her voice. "When did you...? Never mind." "Sorry, old habit of sneaking behind people. The view?" "Huh? Oh, yeah. It's... amazing." Marnie smiled gently as she walked towards a part of the patio. Eli followed and examined her from the back. He noticed her hips swayed a little as she walked, and that her steps were more normal now and not striding. He watched as she walked till she got to a smaller part of the platform and sat down. "Sit," she said, patting next to her.

Eli did so and sat next to her. When he did his eyes widened and a smile grew on his face when he looked down. There, his friend were just hanging out and having fun by dueling with each other, a few laughs escaping. "The old Shane Gang always use to do that," Marnie said as she watched with him. "You seem to know more about Slugterra and my dad than me. And I'm the one with his blood," Eli said to her, not taking his eyes off his crew.

He heard Marnie chuckle.

"Guess I do."

* * *

Marine stared at Eli as he watched his friends. _He looks so much like his father_ , she thought as she examined him from the side. He still had his bandages on, although the ones on his head and arms were visible at the time. Even so, the young Shane was almost an exact replica of his dad. They had the same colored hair, same skin tone, and both were muscular. He was exactly how Will had described him so far.

Will had said he found her on the doorstep of his house as a newborn on the surface with nothing but a light purple blanket wrapped around her and a note. She remembered the first time he read it to her.

 _This is Marnie Easton, she is my niece. Her mother died after giving birth to her and her father died soon after in a car accident due to being drunk from the misery that the death of his wife brought him. I wish I could take care of her myself, but I can barely make a living that's good enough for myself. Please, take care of her. I hear you are a kind man, so I am putting her in your hands. On the back of this is her birthday. If you chose to keep her, love her, protect her, be there for her. I can tell she will become a great girl._

Marnie was only four when Will read it to her. She had cried so hard as Will hugged her. But she wasn't angry that her parents died and left her alone and her mysterious aunt or uncle didn't even try to take care of her. No, she was actually happy. Because if they had not left her, she wouldn't have found out about Slugterra. She wouldn't have met Will, and she would never had become the girl she was today. But Will wanted her to also have _some_ surface life.

He had mad a special Mecha request to the Forge and they made the _WNGZ_ Model for her, who she called Wingz. Wingz was in the shape of a small dragon with feather like wings made of metal. It used strong motors that were attached under the wings to fly but it could run at a great speed and jump far. She used it to go up to the surface every weekday for school, while on the weekends she took private lessons from a teacher from a school in Slugterra. It was hard to balance it, but Marnie made it work.

Her hair wasn't always this way, either. It had been shoulder length, curly and blonde with brown, once upon a time. But she had started to let it grow when she was seven, never cutting it, and dyed it two years later. Purple had always been her favorite color, and she had always been secretly jealous of the Shane's blue hair, so she decided to do both to her hair, adding streaks of the symbols colors to it.

The dark colors weren't a fashion choice. She use to always dress in bright colors, but when she decided to try and bring _some_ peace to Slugterra, she knew she'd have to stick to the shadow.

In order for her to have food, she had to take up jobs in many different places. There was her job at the Forge about a year ago, and months before that it was as a weapons maker, a slug caretaker, and other weird jobs. But she didn't do any job that involved harming a slug. She did duel for money every now and then though, and even took up bounty hunting and betting when she was thirteen. It was a hard life without Will, but she was able to manage.

Now here she was, sitting next to a boy she had always wanted to meet. Will would always come to her with stories of his son, a boy he had named Eli. He would tell her all about him, how he was reckless and obsessed with wanting to see Slugterra. Marnie use to fantasize about him, wishing that the day he would turn fifteen would come faster so they could meet.

Now here they were.

 _No_ Will to help them talk together.

Things _completely awkward._

Nothing to say.

 _Nada._

And Marnie was sitting next to him.

A boy she once considered a crush figure to her.

And she couldn't even look him in the eye.

 _Perfect. Will, I'm going to kill you in the afterlife_ , Marnie thought as she got up. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go and join them." Before Eli could react she had jumped forward and grabbed a vine, sliding down to the ground. She laughed the entire time, never letting the smile leave her face.

When she was firmly on the ground she looked up to see a dazzled Eli. "Your dad and I use to do that all the time. Come on down!" The others had stopped to look at Eli, who was backing away from the edge. At that moment Marnie knew what he was going to do. Her eyes widened.

"Eli! Wait! You're still injured! Take the stairs!" But it was too late. With a cheer, Eli jumped and grabbed the vine, sliding down- no, plummeting was more like it- from the great height to the hard ground. Worried, Marnie ran towards the vine, ready to help. "Eli! Let go!"

She didn't think he'd do it right away. But he did.

He let go, and he fell with a yelp. At that moment, Marnie ended up rolling a few feet away, Eli tangled with her. When they came to a stop, everyone was laughing. "You're insane, Shane!" Marnie wheezed as she tried to stop laughing. But she didn't need to; What she had said was enough. She slowly sat up, all the laughter died as her face suddenly slowly became distant.

"Marnie," Eli said as she got up, "are you alright?" She didn't respod at first, just stared. "I use to call your dad that with every stunt he did." Just as everyone was about to apologize, she shot up and fired at will at Eil.

"Um, _WHAT_ was that?! Do you know how dangerous that was in your current condition? You could've aggravated your wounds! Or worse! Finally give yourself a cracked skull!" Eli just chuckled and said he was fine as he stood up, only to be mocked by Marnie.

 _"'Don't worry, I'm_ _fine'."_ Marine rubbed her head and sighed in annoyance. "And Will wondered why I took up herbal remedies."

Not questioning her mumbling, Eli joined his friends in some target practice. He was surprised that Marnie had Mega Slugs and could double sling. When they decided to take a break he was going to ask her how she'd accomplished such things, but something else slipped out.

"So, who's the new Blakk?" Marine sighed as Mana hopped onto her shoulder.

"I went undercover to answer that myself. Apparently Blakk had an apprentice of some sort. A son figure. His name is Theodore Blakk, and he's been trying to pick up where his master left off a few months ago. Ever since he's been going for caverns with the most slugs. If I remember correctly he's even trying to get to the Easter Caverns."

Eli stared in shock with the others, silently cursing as Marnie continued. "He's been trying to get a good image, says he wants to fix his master's mistake. But I've seen the truth. And everyone else knows it, too." Marnie's face was full of hatred as she turned towards a table with a map on it. Pinned on that map, several black splotches with Blakk's symbol on it. "He's even worse than Tad, who was _actually_ Blakk's son. He's already taken over so much, and I've been trying to stop it. Succeeding at some times, failing other times." She said something under he breath that sounded like something Eli didn't feel like repeating right now.

She seemed to be glaring at the map now, like she wanted it to wipe all the black markings of the new Blakk's territory under her gaze. Mana had jumped on her shoulder, snapping her out of it. "This is already being taken care of. You guys can leave when you're ready. And take it easy for a few days," she told Eli, walking past him and over to a vine, gave it a sharp tug, and she was hoisted up into the large tree, walking on it's large branches.

They stared after her as she walked into a side hut, the grey drape flapping behind her. "That's it?" Trixi says to no one in particular. "We fight alongside her for the same reasons and she just walks away as soon as we're prepped and ready to go?" "Hey, take it easy. She's been alone for years, she's probably uncomfortable talking to someone she doesn't Slug right after," Eli defended, not taking his eyes off the drape. "Looks like the leader's got it in for the loner girl," Kord joked, receiving a playful shove from said leader.

After a few moments of silence, Eli Tugged on another vine, landing on the same platform Marnie landed on. He went through the curtains and saw that it was a garage, where Marnie was currently working on Wingz. "What do you want? I thought it was strongly implied that I didn't need any help," was all she said, not turning around to face Eli as she reached for a wrench. "You don't have to run anymore, you know. No one thinks your a criminal, and you aren't alone anymore. Why can't you see that and join us?"

She seemed to freeze for a moment, her body tensing and staying silent for a few moments before returning to her work. "That's something you can never understand." "Try me." "No thanks." "Why not?" "Because I learned long ago that once I become important to someone, they tend to vanish on me," Marnie said, finally standing up and turning to face him in one swift motion. They stood still and silent and didn't look away from each other. But once again Eli found himself wondering why she didn't look him in the eye when he looked into hers. Bright blue always met dark night blue with traces of purple around the pupils, but the vice versa never happened. Ever time her eyes seemed to wander too close to his, a flicker of fear coated them and she focused on another part of him.

The moment passed as soon as it had happened, and she walked past him. She stopped, however, when she was at his side, not even glancing at him.

"If we both know what's good for each other and ourselves, then you'll do what I say and hardly have any contact with me."

With that, Marnie continued to the shelves behind Eli. "Your hideout it a few miles southwest of here. You can still make it before nightfall if you hurry now," she said, picking up a few parts and inspecting them. Eli just stayed silent and looked at her. He could tell she was trained by her father, just by her figure. Growing up and wanting so desperately to get to Slugterra and become the best Slinger ever, he did any exercise his father gave him until he was on the brink of passing out. That's how he got his fit figure. But Marnie had his dad there to make sure she was as worked as him. He was there to train her, push her till she finally passed her limits. And Eli knew he should envy her, have a sort of anger and hatred aimed at her and his father.

But he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew his father wouldn't have taken her in if it wasn't worth it. And he could tell she was worth it. She was a Slinger that rivaled him, a natural-born Slinger with generations upon generations of Slugterra protectors. All taught what their older generation learned. Eli never got that chance. And he knew Marnie only got a sliver of that chance. And not because she was lucky or because she was pitied upon, but because she had an aura that _said_ she could do something. She wasn't a Shane, not by a mile, but she brought pride to that name by fighting for justice.

And Eli loved that. He admitted that he adored this girl in front of him, who stood strong and knew his father and wanted nothing more than to bring pride to him and now to his son. The only thing he envied about her was that she seemed to have a stronger will, and people who supported the Shane family didn't automatically set the stakes high for her. Sure, he didn't mind, but there was always that part of him that feared losing the peoples trust with just one mess-up. But other than that: Sheer admiration.

The only thing was, she was like a music box. And not the shiny new ones that could tink its tunes perfectly and sparkled with even the slightest flicker of light, covered in beautiful designs and freshly placed gems. The ones children saw in movies and begged to have. That one, where when you open it, you are met by lush velvet covering the inside and a small, pretty ballerina in a pink outfit and a tiny tutu made of fabric, the color of her features still visible and vibrant.

No, she was the old ones. Those that weren't even antiques. Yes, she was one of those old ones that had not been properly packed or taken care of, the ones where the wind-up was messed with one too many times, and where it was shaken so much that its sweet melody was now out of tune and no longer made sense. It was dulled, the jewels no longer having any shine, the design faded and dented, a few areas even chipped. And the inside had cobwebs, emptied of jewelry for fear of them being ruined. The velvet was now torn and had a few patches missing, the mirror cracked so much you could hardly see anything. And the ballerina no longer had it's graceful beauty. The hand that stood upward had fallen off, the knee that stuck out was missing as well. An it's tutu was ripped and barely even pieces of string, much less fabric, and the color of her features no longer stood out.

That was what Marnie was. An old, forgotten jewelry box that was once trusted with the finest of gems, left to turn into the damaged trinket she was.

And he hated that. He wanted so badly to help her, to get her to want to be around people again. She still trusted people, that was clear. But when Will died, something inside her snapped, and her heart had slowly started to build up walls around her. All because of her past. She had become the light of her parents life, and she had somehow ended up having to grow up in Slugterra, away from them. And then Will treated her like she was his daughter for years, only to die when she was a little girl. And now, here she was, faced with Eli, a boy she probably dreamt of meeting one day and Slinging bad guys left and right together, becoming the ultimate pair of slingers.

But she had long been forgotten, and was treated poorly because of that, to end up into nothing but dust. And she was accepting that.

"But you don't have to anymore."

Those words slipped from Eli's mouth smoothly, without him knowing. But he didn't seem surprised with her at those words when she look towards him. "Come with us. We won't leave you. You can trust us," he said, holding out a hand. Marnie raised an eyebrow, her eyes scanning the hand, as if wondering if it were a cruel joke. How can someone like him, who's been tricked and betrayed quite a few times, trust someone so easily? Was there truly someone _that_ trusting in the entire universe?

But a minute later, despite those questions, she placed the parts down on the shelf, and took the hand.

"Alright, Shane. You've got yourself a new member," she said, a smirk on her face. Still, she didn't look into his eyes, but he thought little of it. Maybe, just maybe, he'll find a way to get her to look into his eyes some day soon. "Let me pack my things, and I'll head out with you in a few minutes," she said, giving him a two-fingered salute before leaving the garage.

* * *

"So this is the famous Eli Shane's hideout," Marnie said out loud, stretching after a few hours on Wingz with a few bags of luggage. "Yup, this is it. Come on, I'll take you to your room," he said, grabbing one of her bags and leading her to said room. "Oh, wait, can someone put that bag in the kitchen? It has all my ingredients for remedies," she said, pointing to one of the bags on the floor. "No worries. I'll put it in the kitchen and you can sort through it later," Trixie offered, earning a nod from Marnie.

"You sure do like your remedies," Eli said as they walked through the hideout. "When I was growing up they seemed to be an escape route from the stress and crazy from life. I only concentrated on making things and sorting items. What I do is delicate work. You misread one instruction and the remedies could be useless," Marnie explained as they walked up a few stairs. "And I didn't just do them for Will. Before and after he died, whenever I wanted pocket money, I'd set up a booth and sell some of them. And if I happened to meet someone who needed help, I'd give them some," she said, smiling at the memories.

Soon, they reached a small empty room with a bed and a dresser. Marnie placed the bags she was holding down near the bed and sat on it, looking around. "Good thing it has a window," she said, looking through said window next to her bed. "I know the view is great, but I don't think it's that great," Eli said, placing the bags he had near the dresser. "It's more important than you think." "If you don't mind me asking, why?" "... I'm claustrophobic, " she muttered after a tense moment of silence. Eli's eye widened a bit as she avoided eye contact and a small blush powdered her cheeks. "You tell anyone, I won't stop Mana from hitting you next time," she muttered, still not looking away from the spot on the foot of the bed she was glaring at. Eli just chuckled. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Marnie gasped lightly in shock, hoping Eli didn't think much of it. The only person to know of her claustrophobia was Will, and he never had to worry about that. Marnie had tricked him into thinking she was over it once, but only because she didn't want him worrying so much when they went into tight spaces. She sort of did, though. She knew he was there, and that was enough to keep it from _visibly_ showing until she was alone. But when he died... Marnie could never be able to hide her fear again.

"Well, let me know if you need anything, all right? Hope you'll enjoy living here," Eli said, breaking the silence. Marnie only nodded as she moved to unpack. Eli closed the door behind him, silently leaning against it and exhaling lightly, running a hand through his hair. He couldn't help that feeling in his chest. His heart felt like going a million miles a minute, and it was a surprise that it hadn't blown when Marnie looked... vulnerable when she said she had claustrophobia. He stepped away from the door and down the hall to his own room, wanting to rest a bit before dinner.

* * *

Meanwhile, Marnie was having a similar situation. It, however, started when she told him about her claustrophobia. She _really_ had a hard time with keeping her heart in her chest. She groaned, falling back onto her new bed. Whether it was out of annoyance or frustration or even both, she did not know. What she _did_ know was that the Shane family always found a way to make it hard for her to live with them. First, it was Will and his arrogance and his slight overprotectiveness. Now, there was Eli.

And he wasn't doing _anything_ to be hard to handle.

He's just being... _Eli._

 _Sweet, cute, lovable, innocent Eli_ , she thought, her face turning red.

Marnie abruptly sat up and smacked her hands against her cheeks several times, telling her heart to slow down and try to get rid of the blush. The rush of adrenaline... it was weird for her. It reminded her of whenever she experienced a panic attack from her phobia. But that hadn't been for a while. Even so, Marnie knew that feeling well enough, and this rush had an effect the exact opposite of those attacks. She felt warm all over, yet she shivered a bit at the goosebumps that formed on her skin and the butterflies that somehow entered her stomach.

How was it was that a guy that you only heard of and never met weaken your knees at first glance.

"My God, the Shanes really will be the death of me," Marnie muttered as she left her room, leaving her items to be unpacked later and wanting to sort through her ingredients. She couldn't believe how she was acting around Eli. Usually, when she met a cute guy around her age whenever she had free time, she would flirt with them just for fun or for information. Why was Eli so different? After all, he had been her first and only crush growing up. Was it because of that?

"Great. Of all the men I feel flustered around, the one who has the most effect invites me to live with him an his gang. And I can't even find the will to flirt with him," Marnie muttered as she reached the living room, where everyone was watching a competition between Eli and Kord on a video game. Marnie smiled a bit, looking at them as Eli cheered, having won whatever game they were playing. She looked at her shoulder, seeing that Mana had finally woken from a nap to perch on her. And she could tell the slug knew what she was thinking.

"Well, for now anyway," Marnie shrugged, her smile still on her lips as she walked over to join the fun.


End file.
